One of the four men charged with the murder of Cape Town jeweller Charl Munnick has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The Western Cape High Court also convicted Ndyebo Dotwana on two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, for which he was sentenced to 20 years.
Dotwana was charged alongside co-accused Sicelo Mase, Luyanda Lonzi, and Awonke Ziqu for the deadly robbery of the owner of the Munnick Jewellers, in Worcester on January 29, 2021.
The four men faced the same charges but Mase and Ziqu had additional counts of illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.
Mase, Lonzi, and Ziqu pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and Dotwana opted to challenge the State’s case against him.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said the four men travelled to Worcester to rob the store owned by the deceased and his mother, Esme Munnick.
“On the day of the incident, Mase pretended to be a customer and started talking to one of the employees while Lonzi stood closer to the door. Mase took out a firearm and started threatening other employees and the deceased’s mother who were all inside the shop.
“Lonzi joined him and they both started wielding firearms threatening all who were inside. At the time, the deceased was asleep in a room on top of the store. Ziqu and another tall slim man who had never been identified or arrested in the case joined Lonzi and Mase inside the store,” said Ntabazalila.
Ntabazalila explained that after hearing the commotion, Munnick rushed down to the store armed with a firearm. A shootout ensued between him and the robbers, during which Lonzi shot Munnick in the head and then took his firearm.
“The robbery was captured on CCTV and the four robbers were seen coming out of the store and got into a blue sedan parked in front of the store. The blue sedan which had false number plates at the time of the robbery was traced to another accused who turned into a Section 204 witness,” said Ntabazalila.
During the robbery, they took a firearm, cellphone, and R60,000.
The witness told the court that he and Dotwana would often borrow each other’s vehicles. A day before the robbery, Dotwana borrowed his vehicle, which had a Lesotho number plate, without specifying what he intended to use it for.
Later, he noticed four unknown men at Dotwana’s yard changing the number plates of his vehicle and installing a number plate with a Worcester registration number. He also noticed a grey hatchback in the yard with no number plates.
He further testified that when Dotwana returned his car, he told him to get rid of it as it was involved in a robbery.
-IOL
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